Penguins D Gonchar out indefinitely

Sep 25, 2008 - 6:49 AM PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- Sergei Gonchar will be on the shelf for a while.

The Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday announced Gonchar would be out indefinitely with a dislocated shoulder suffered in the team's preseason opener against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.

Gonchar saw just 3 minutes, 47 seconds of action over five shifts before leaving the 5-4 shootout loss. Shortly before exiting, the four-time All-Star defenseman was on the receiving end of a check from David Koci, which caused the injury.

"Sergei will continue to be evaluated as our team medical personnel consider several treatment options," Penguins general manager Ray Shero said. "In the meantime, we will look for our other defensemen to step up and fill the void created by his absence."

Gonchar is expected to miss the Penguins' regular-season opener on October 4 against the Ottawa Senators in Stockholm, Sweden.

Last season, his third with Pittsburgh, Gonchar recorded 12 goals and 53 assists in 78 games. The 34-year-old Russian, who was drafted 14th overall by Washington in 1992, has collected 185 tallies, 615 points and 767 penalty minutes in 904 career contests with the Capitals, Boston Bruins and Penguins.